The present invention relates in general to sensors, and in particular, to a network of miniature chemical optical sensors for measuring and detecting gases.
Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with land mine detection, as an example.
Anti-personnel mines, commonly called land mines, cause severe injuries and casualties to thousands of civilians and military troops around the world each year. There are over 120 million land mines currently deployed in over 60 countries around the world. Each year, over 2 million new land mines 20 are laid, while only about 100,000 mines are cleared.
These mines are typically deployed randomly within a strategic area and may be buried or camouflaged so they are invisible to a casual observer. Mines may instantly and indiscriminately claim unsuspecting victims who step or drive on the mine""s triggering mechanism. The clandestine and indiscriminate nature of land mines make them a particularly dangerous weapon for anyone in close proximity to the mine.
Mines contain an explosive, which rapidly accelerates shrapnel or other projectiles when activated. Many mines contain trinitrotolulene (TNT), which is a common explosive compound. TNT and other explosives are polynitroaromatic compounds that emit a vapor. This emitted vapor may be useful to detect mines and other explosives.
Current detection methods range from high-tech electronic (ground penetrating radar, infra-red, magnetic resonance imaging) to biological detection schemes (dog sniffers and insects or bacteria) to simple brute force detonation methods (flails, rollers and plows) and the use of hand-held mechanical prodders. Most of these methods are very slow and/or expensive and suffer from a high false alarm rate. Mines usually do not possess self-destroying mechanisms and due to their long active time jeopardize the lives of millions of people. Furthermore, mines are difficult to find with commercial metal detectors, because their metal content is very low and in some cases even zero.
Therefore, a system that detects mines having little or no metallic content is now needed; providing enhanced design performance and accuracy while overcoming the aforementioned limitations of conventional methods.
Generally, and in one form of the invention, a network for detecting a substance including at least two detectors that are capable of transmitting a signal, and a remote station capable of receiving the signal is disclosed. The detectors are adapted to detect a substance and transmit data that indicates the presence of that substance to the remote receiving station.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the detectors are adapted to detect a vapor.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the detectors are capable of receiving the transmitted signal.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the detectors have a light detector and a waveguide.